Basic Thugonomics
by BornThisWay
Summary: Back before he was Heavyweight Champion, before he'd even made a real impact. He was struggling to lift himself on to the middle of the card, and his fiance had left him. Then there she was. She'd caught his eye from the start, did he even have a chance?
1. We're going on a Diva hunt

**A/N – This idea has been stuck in my head and just won't go away, no matter how much I try. For the purposes of this fic, everything that will happen within the story has already happened on the shows Smackdown! and RAW, but this is under a totally different time frame, with little twists thrown in there too. **

**Feedback and reviews are a bonus, not begged for. Flames welcomed, if they're going to help me.**

"I can't believe I lost. I had that match won! I can't believe this!" A crestfallen figure collapsed on the couch beside Billy Kidman and his wife Torrie Wilson.

"Dude." Billy laughed. "I can't believe you and Benoit made Heyman eat soap."

Shooting them both a dirty look, Torrie grabbed the remote and turned the television up louder. "I can't believe you're both still talking while I'm clearly trying to watch this!"

Billy and John rolled their eyes, snickering to each other. "Tor, what are you watching?"

"This stupid 2004 Diva Search," she pouted. "I can't believe they let any old girl walk off the street and work here now!"

"Sweetie," Billy began. "I hate to break it to you, but isn't that how you got hired at WCW?"

"Well ... yeah ... but ... that's different!" She huffed.

"Of course it is Tor," John laughed, raising an eyebrow at two of his best friends in the company. "Just tell me ... how exactly is it different again?" Billy snorted, causing his wife to whack him over the head with a cushion.

"Hey, what was that for?" He asked innocently. Torrie glared at him as he casually stretched, putting an arm around her. Pulling her closer, he grabbed the remote and turned it down slightly. "Torrie, you have nothing to worry about. There is no way that anyone the WWE hires would be even in your league," he said seriously.

"But look at them!" she protested. "Parading around in their swanky barely-there clothes! What if the winner ends up on Smackdown! What if they send her here and they expect me to job for her?"

"Wilson, why are you so worried?" John asked, eyes closed. His head was pounding, he'd had it with Heyman and Smackdown, his personal life was a mess and he wasn't exactly getting any younger .. what did he have to show for his 26 years? Right now, absolutely nothing. "They're barely even legal. Total jail bait ... Vince wouldn't hire anyone he doesn't have a chance with."

"Hey! I resent that!" She shot back. "What are you trying to say?"

"That these girls are simply intended as eye candy." John retorted.

"Excuse me! We are not used as eye candy! A Diva is a classy position to hold! We entertain, play an active role backstage on the shows and we even wrestle! We are not eye candy John."

John sighed. "On your first day here, what did you do?"

"Well ..." Torrie said slowly, trying to remember. "I had to seduce Vince ..."

"Game, set, match!" John crowed, slapping his hands on his knees. "See what I mean?"

"That was uncalled for," Billy interrupted before Torrie had a chance to get a shot in. He placed a hand over her mouth to stop her from returning fire and glanced at John. "Anyone he doesn't have a chance with Cena?" Billy said slyly, a twinkle in his eye. "I seem to recall him hiring you ... are you saying he has a chance? I didn't know you swung that way ... "

John groaned loudly. "Cute Billy. Real Cute."

The Cruiserweight Champion shrugged his shoulders. "I thought so."

"Ssh!" Torrie hissed excitedly. "They're about to vote another one off!"

"Isn't this a repeat?" John asked. "Torrie, was this on last night?"

"How would you know, watching it were you?" Billy teased.

"No!" John shot back defensively. "I caught the main event on RAW and this was on before it." Billy and John turned to the screen as Torrie turned up the volume. Johnathon Coachman was strutting around the ring before the nine remaining Diva Search contestants, about to eliminate somebody.

"_Nine beautiful women in the ring before me, Ladies and Gentlemen. Unfortunately, only one will survive to be the winner of the 2004 Diva Search! Who will go home tonight? Will it be ... Michelle?" _

Coach stood behind the girls hoping to gain some reaction from the live audience. To his dismay, the fans really weren't that interested. However, a certain Smackdown! Superstar was suddenly captivated by the women on screen. Torrie and Billy looked on in amusement as John leaned forward in his seat, closer to the television.

_Coach grimaced, obviously dying out there before a lifeless crowd. Never the less, he continued. "Will it be ... Tracie?" _

Nothing from the crowd as John stared intently at the screen. "John?" Torrie looked at her friend curiously. "Are you alright there?" There was no response as John was still transfixed by the television. "John?"

"Huh?" John glanced up as he snapped out of his reverie. "Did you say something Torrie?"

She elbowed her husband, holding back giggles as John automatically turned his attention back to the Diva Search without waiting for an answer.

"_The WWE fans have spoken. I'm sorry girls, but the Diva Search Contestant with the least amount of votes is ... Camille."_

The trio watched as Camille stopped to blow kisses for the camera before hugging her fellow contestants and stepping out of the ring. As the camera panned over the other girls to catch her exit up the ramp, John blurted "Wait, Torrie, go back!"

Torrie rewound the tape to the point where John yelled out. "Stop! Who is that girl?"

Smackdown!'s favorite Diva paused the tape, and John launching himself out of his seat to kneel before the television.

"Which one?" Billy frowned. "The red head?"

"No, not the read head! The brunette!" Pointing a finger at a slim girl on screen, John turned to Torrie. "You have to know who she is, I know you girls keep score on this sort of thing."

"Do not!" She turned red, trying to ignore the looks the guys were giving her. "Okay, okay so maybe we do. We have to keep an eye on the competition, don't we?" Reaching into her bag before her on the floor, she pulled out a tattered book, full of names and facts. Skimming through the pages, she stopped at the K's. "Hemme, Giovanni ... Kanellis. Maria Kanellis."

"Maria, hey?" Billy said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on his chin. "Your mystery girls got a name John."

"She's got quite the list of credentials too," Torrie reported sullenly. "Maria is a veteran of Hawaiian Tropic, she won the Miss Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals 2003 Beauty Pageant, and is of Greek origin," she recited. "Gee, you really pick the smart ones don't you John?" she continued sarcastically. "Maria has a younger sister who is still in school, and a brother who serves in the armed forces. She also majored in fashion at Northern Illinois University."

"She's gorgeous," John confessed. "I wonder if she has a boyfriend." His eyes followed the young woman as she walked across the ring and slipped between the ropes. She was the epitome of sexy, and she looked like she knew it. He stared as the camera followed her hips, enchanted by the way they swung with every step, his tongue unconsciously poking out of his mouth to lick his lips. She tripped walking up the ramp, an embarrassed smile dancing over her features as Christy Hemme saved her from falling.

"What, you don't think I have that in my little book too?" Torrie sniped.

"The other girls probably would," John counted, turning to the pair. "But not you. You don't have to worry about them stealing any boyfriends aka Smackdown! wrestlers out from underneath your nose and you know it."

"That's right." Billy confirmed. "I'm not going anywhere." Torrie smiled, and Billy captured her lips with his. John moaned, turning away from the public display of affection. His engagement had broken up ages ago, but it still stung him to watch those two going at it. He was lonely, and craving someone to care about.

"Guysss. Get a room."

Billy looked up for all of five seconds. "Dude. The name plate on the door says Kidman and Wilson. This IS our room."

John grumbled, climbing to his feet. "Alright, alright, I'm going." Neither acknowledged him as he stormed out of the room and down the hall. His life sucked. Simple as that. Sighing, he touched his head against the cool of a metal pylon. There was something about that Diva Search girl. Maria .. she seemed different from the others. Sure, he'd seen her for all of about ten seconds, but there was a sparkle in her eyes that made him want to know more. A beauty pageant winner hey? He could definitely see how ..

He leaned backwards, before slamming his hand into the pylon, clearly frustrated. Oh, what was the point? She was just some random girl on RAW. He was on Smackdown!. Regardless of how intriguing she was, he was stuck here. Shaking his head, he strolled off down the hall. Moments later, he'd forgotten all about the petite diva search contestant who had briefly haunted his thoughts.

Or had he?


	2. So what if she's a beauty queen?

**A/N – This idea has been stuck in my head and just won't go away, no matter how much I try. For the purposes of this fic, everything that will happen within the story has already happened on the shows Smackdown! and RAW, but this is under a totally different time frame, with little twists thrown in there too. **

**Feedback and reviews are a bonus, not begged for. Flames welcomed, if they're going to help me. Thanks to Kiora Storm, and LULUCENA7 for reviewing, this chapter is for you two!**

**Disclaimer – I still own nothing. If I somehow come into the possession of some WWE Superstars, you'll be the first people to know.**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Drying off his hair John walked out of the bathroom, flopping down on the bench beside Billy and Rey Mysterio. His head hurt, his bones ached and all he wanted to do was crawl up into a ball and go to sleep. The past week had been hell. He'd been distracted while he was in the ring, and he had just had his backside handed to him as a result. Smackdown! tapings were almost over for another week, and just like the week before, John had been on the receiving end of a brutal beat down courtesy of Heyman and the freak who should be kept on a leash, Brock Lesnar.

Glancing up from the television Billy smirked at John out of the corner of his eye. "Dude, you're girl's on television," he teased, having purposely made sure that the Diva Search segment from last night was playing in their locker room. Thumbing his head in the direction of the television he grinned, thinking that John would be stoked to see Maria again.

How wrong could he be?

The West Newbury native groaned out loud. "She's not my girl, she never was, never will be."

Rey perked up at the sound of gossip. "A girl? Have you been holding out on us John?"

Billy snickered, pointing the remote control in the direction of the TV screen. "John's after one of the Diva Search contestants. We were watching this with Torrie last week and now John can't stop thinking about this girl."

Standing in protest, John moved away from Billy. Grabbing a chair, he spun it around and straddled it, resting his head on his forearms. "That's a lie and you know it Kidman. I haven't thought of her once."

Bullshit, a little voice inside his head whispered. Maria had been on his mind all week. When he closed his eyes, she was there. If he dreamed, it was about her ... it would take him all ten fingers and all ten toes to count off the amount of times he had watched the Diva Search segment in the last week ... he had to admit, the more he saw of her the more he wanted to know. Somehow, she'd worked her way into his heart and she didn't even know it. He had to find out more about her, he had to! But how?

"Guys ... "John began hesitantly. "If I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?" At their nods he continued. "No laughing either," he warned them. "I don't know what what it is ... but this girl is haunting me! Every time I watch television I find myself channel surfing stations for glimpses of her .. an interview, photo, anything. I close my eyes and she's all that I see ... She's in my dreams for crying out loud! It's like we're connected, I feel so drawn to her!"

His friends looked at each other blankly, then looked at John, then looked at each other again, before bursting into bouts of hysterical laughter. John's face fell, he knew he shouldn't have said anything.

Rey and Billy rolled their eyes at each other. "Cena, there's no shame in liking the girl .. "

"Rey-Rey, I'm telling you! I don't like her!" John's face was bright red, it was clear to them that he did. It seemed that denial wasn't going to work here, they didn't believe him. Man, what was their problem? So he liked her, did everyone have to know! Just because he liked her didn't mean that anything was going to happen, because it wasn't. " I just can't get her out of my head! All I did was say she was kind of pretty ..."

Snorting indignantly, Billy cute in. "Pretty?" He clasped his hands together and batted his eyelashes, over exaggerating John's little performance. "Oh she's gorgeous! I wonder if she has a boyfriend," he gushed in a high falsetto voice. "Oh I have to have her!"

"Dude, I did not say that!" John protested.

"You said she was gorgeous!" Billy smirked. "And you wanted to know if she had a boyfriend."

"What! I was just saying." She IS gorgeous ... but what would she want with a guy like me?

"No, you were asking," Billy said flippantly, correcting him. "You wanted to know, because you want her ..."

The guys were finding it hard to contain their laughter. John always got up on the defensive in regards to his personal life and this was no different. He really had his eye on this one it seemed. John was looking guilty, like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The confident figure he maintained in the ring had been replaced by a little boy who scared to ask out the most popular girl in school.

"John and a random Diva Search girl sitting in a tree," Rey sing-songed. " K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

If it was even possible, John's face flushed a brighter shade of red. Okay, so he liked her, and they knew it. But did the whole world have to know about it? Inwardly he groaned, knowing that he was in for the third degree now. He closed his eyes, hoping that if he did Billy and Rey would disappear and this conversation would be over. Unfortunately, no such luck. Closing his eyes he was met with a vision of Maria, giggling and smiling for the fans. She was waving to the crowd, and as she walked up the ramp into the Gorilla position she ran over to John and kissed him ... He shook his head quickly, opening his eyes and praying for the vision to go away. He was so far gone already that it wasn't even funny.

"Alright, alright. So I might like her," he admitted. "MIGHT."

Rey decided to press his friend a little further, figuring he could have some fun with this. It wasn't often that the infallible John Cena was flustered.

"They are very gorgeous girls John," Rey broke in cheekily."Which one is it? Joy Giovanni? Christy Hemme? Amy Weber?"

Sighing heavily with resignation, John moved next to the television. "Rey-Rey, if I tell you, this doesn't leave this room. I'm serious."

"Okay, okay," Rey laughed. "You make it sound like some sort of secret mission. It doesn't leave the room bro, I got it."

Mumbling to himself, John reached up and stabbed a finger in the general direction of the girls on screen. "Her."

Rey squinted, trying to figure out which girl he meant. "Johhhhn. You're pointing at like three beautiful women. Which one?"

"Maria Kanellis. The brunette in the green mesh shirt." Billy supplied, knowing that John would never give Rey an honest answer if he could get away with it.

Rey raised an eyebrow, not that you would ever notice as his face was obscured by his mask. "The beauty queen?"

Billy and John both spun to face him, speaking in unison. "What? How did you know about that?"

"You after her as well hey, Rey-Rey?" Billy kidded.

The small Mexican shrugged his shoulders. "I was sitting within earshot of the Divas in catering. What else would they be talking about? They feel pretty threatened by these girls you know."

Billy groaned. "Yeah, and I bet Torrie was the cause of that." Shaking his head, he grinned softly. Damn his wife was incorrigible at times. But then again, that was why he loved her. Back to the matter at hand though. "Sooo Johnny-boy. Now we've established you want the girl what are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

The two former Cruiserweight Champions glanced at each other in confusion. He wanted the girl, but he wasn't going to do anything about it?

"Okay. Um ... please explain," Billy said, a bit puzzled.

John gestured toward the screen once again. "Just look at them. They'll all beautiful girls! I don't have a chance with any of them, let alone Maria."

"Man, how do you know that? Do you even know anything about her?"

"I don't need too!" Though I really really want too, he thought."All I know is that she would never look twice at a guy like me."

"Then how do you know you don't have a chance?" Rey burst out.

"She probably has a boyfriend, a jealous one at that." John said sourly.

John was ready to admit defeat. He didn't know what was wrong with him, he was usually pretty straight forward when it came to women; he never had a problem finding a girl, that was for sure. There was something about Maria though, the prospect of even trying to talk to her, not that they were on the same show - made him nervous and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Dude," Billy whistled, shaking his head. "What is up with you lately man? You used to be so confident and in your face, and now you're scared of a girl? You're letting this Heyman/Brock Lesnar rubbish get to you, that's it, isn't it?" He asked incredulously. "You know, just because she's a beauty queen doesn't mean that you shouldn't go for it."

"I'm not scared," he practically snarled. "I just know that I have no chance in hell with this girl." He wanted her. There was no questioning that. Yet every time they mentioned her, it felt like his heart was breaking more and more. She seemed further away than ever, and it hurt.

Crossing his arms across his chest, Rey smirked. "Give us three reasons why."

"Gee, let me see. Number one, she's on RAW. Number two, she's not an employee, she could be gone next week and I could never see her again. Number three, my life is messed up enough as it is .. why drag someone else into it!" John sucked in a big breath as he finished his tirade. Strangely enough, he felt a little bit better having got that out into the open. Lately, it seemed all of his problems were crashing down around him, and he was being suffocated. His friends knew it, and they knew that somehow they had to snap him out of it.

"Number one," a voice spoke up quietly from the doorway. "Being on RAW was never a problem for Trish and I when I was sent here. Distance was not a problem, is never a problem if you love someone. If this Maria girl is worth it, then nothing else matters. Number two, you'll never know if you don't do anything about it. Sure, she might not get hired, but if there is something there – which, I might add, you'll never know if you don't try and find out, then you'll make it work. Number three, if your life is so damn messed up then god knows you could use a girl to take your mind off things. Get over this Heyman rubbish, suck it up and then maybe you'll make something of yourself in this business. It's time to start taking control of your life Cena."

The trio turned, hearing the gruff voice of Bubba Ray Dudley. Who knows how long he'd been standing there listening to them; yet as soon as he'd said his piece he was gone. Billy, Rey and John simply stared at each other: they really weren't friends with Bubba, so that piece of advice he'd offered was slightly unexpected. As the door banged shut behind the former tag team champion, John looked to be lost in thought. Was all that Bubba was saying true? Should he take a chance? He winced, his last relationship had ended in disaster, did he want to go through that again? Had Bubba even seen Maria? She was perfect! Did he want to risk getting his heart broken all over again, by such a beautiful lady? A weird sensation overcame him, and he suddenly felt compelled to do something.

"Bubba's right" he murmured to himself incoherently. "Gotta do something, get noticed, keep her on RAW. Can't let her get voted off, have to find a way to see her ... Superstars can't vote, wonder if she likes flowers? Could be a start ..."

Thinking out loud John continued to ramble. What Bubba has said had struck a cord in him. There was no point sitting here being miserable when he could be figuring out how to solve his problem. He'd never been afraid of a challenge before, why start now. A buzz started to run through his brain, and he felt like he was ready to take on the world again. He didn't know what he'd been thinking, saying that he didn't like her. Must have been one of those nasty chair shots he'd received from Brock that night .. he was beginning to feel a heck of a lot better. He was warming to the idea of chasing Maria. Maybe he DID have a chance. No doubt she was gorgeous, it was obvious he couldn't get her off his mind ...That's it, he decided. He had to have her ...

"Maybe she likes chocolates, I could give her chocolates?"

The boys looked at their friend as if he was delusional. What on earth had gotten into John? And what was he talking about? Cena continued to ignore them as he racked his brain for ideas. He had to keep Maria on RAW, in the contest, and he had to get her to notice him ... the question was how exactly.

Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

Rushing over to his bag he pulled out his phone and pressed speed dial five. The other two sat and watched him curiously as he paced back and forward, waiting for the phone to ring. Rey cocked an eyebrow in Billy's direction, yet Billy just stared at his friend. For someone who had seemed so down a couple of minutes ago, John seemed very animated and ready to go. A grin spread over his face as the phone was answered on the other end.

"_Hey Boog!"_

Billy and Rey just stared at each other. Boog? Who was Boog?

"_I know, I know, it's been a long time. Entirely my fault little man ... The big leagues? Nah, not likely,_" John snorted into the phone.

"_Not right now, sometime soon ... Hey, I got a favour to ask ... No, it's not the only reason I rang .. I wanted to talk to you ... okay, okay you got me. I need a favour, and I really need you guys to pull through for me ... A girl? What makes you say that?"_

John's face blushed a deep red again. His brother knew him pretty well it seemed.

"_No, I did not meet her in a sleazy bar, thank you very much! The Diva Search ... you've been watching? Great ... Alright, this is where I need your help. Superstars can't vote, and there's this beautiful girl ... I need you guys to vote for me ... yes I've course I'll reimburse you guys for the calls, gee how cheap do you think I am?"_

Rey coughed lightly, bringing it to John's attention that he was still in the locker room. He needed to finish his phone call, he realised, and explain to the guys what was happening.

"_I don't have much time to talk, I just need you to promise me that you'll get the guys on board on this one and help me out ... Maria, you need to vote for Maria ... Kanellis, not Giovanni ... why? All in good time my friend, all in good time, I 'll let you know. You've gotta stop her from being voted off first."_

Intrigued, the boys leaned forward, trying to hear the other side of the conversation. John finished his call and put his phone down on the bench, smiling all the while.

"Well," he grinned."That's step one of our master plan set in motion."

"Master plan?" Rey echoed. "Wait, what just happened here?" he asked Billy.

Billy smiled. "I think what our boy is trying to say is that he's ready for anything, including Maria."

"Damn right I am!" John exclaimed. "We're gonna do this, and do it right!"

"We're?" Rey frowned. "When did the 'we' come into this?And the whole time I've been in here you've been against the idea of even going after Maria? Now you want her? What have I missed?"

"You said you'd help didn't you Rey-Rey?" John asked excitedly, not waiting for an answer before he continued. "It's going to be great, that girl won't know what hit her! This is going to be a great plan! Are you guys in?"

Kidman nodded, watching as John virtually bounced off the walls. He chuckled silently to himself. This kid was crazy, but at least things were never boring when he was around.

Rey moaned out loud. "I don't have a choice do I? Fine, I'm in."

A massive grin spread across John's face. "Great! Well gather around guys, this is what we have to do!"

**Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed it! There won't be any updates for a couple of days because I have a philosophy exam to study for ... but after that you're looking at least 2/3 updates a week ... **


	3. The King of whose world?

**A/N – This idea has been stuck in my head and just won't go away, no matter how much I try. For the purposes of this fic, everything that will happen within the story has already happened on the shows Smackdown! and RAW, but this is under a totally different time frame, with little twists thrown in there too. **

**Feedback and reviews are a bonus, not begged for. Flames welcomed, if they're going to help me. Thanks to Kiora Storm, LegendKillerFan, cenamarialover, SandyCena, missphilippinesuperstar and LULUCENA7 for reviewing, this chapter is for you!**

**This chapter is mainly going to be focused on the Diva Search Contestants at RAW – any thoughts or conversation from John, Billy, or Rey will be in bold print.**

**Disclaimer – I still own nothing. If I somehow come into the possession of some WWE Superstars, you'll be the first people to know. I'll auction off the ones i don't want for the right price .. :) - I'm sorry I've taken so long to update but I've been in hospital with blood poisoning (yahoo) so I've been out of commission ... things will be back to normal son, promise.**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"**Okay. Phase one, we have to get her attention."**

**John groaned audibly. "Nice going Einstein," he shot back sarcastically. "That is the general idea."**

**Rey glanced at his friend. "You know, we don't have to help you."**

"**He's right," Billy chimed in. "We could always just leave you to the mercy of my better half."**

**Wincing, John held his hands up in surrender. Anyone but Torrie; she would ensure that the relationship was run into the ground before it even started. "Okay, okay. I get it, we'll do it your way."**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sucking in a big breath of air, she smiled nervously at the crowd. Tonight, a fourth Diva Search contestant was about to be eliminated. She wasn't ready to go home just yet. She had been a fan of wrestling all her life, unlike the rest of the girls in this contest, and she knew that she had what it would take to be the next RAW Diva. She wasn't like them at all; she didn't want to be tits and ass, she wanted to make a difference in this business, make something of herself.

Feeling an intense stare on her back she turned to see Jericho standing in her line of sight in the Gorilla. Smiling tightly she waved, and quickly focused her attention back on the Coach; she didn't quite know why, but the fact he was staring at her unnerved her. Every time she looked his way his eyes were on her ..

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"_What do you mean you don't know who I am?" Jericho asked in disbelief. "I'm the King of the World, the King of Bling Bling .."_

Chris Jericho had had the girls on his Highlight Reel earlier this evening. Giggling, she remembered the look of indignation on Chris Jericho's face when several of the girls failed to recognize him.

"_The Living Legend, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!" Maria supplied, breaking in. As silence filled the room, Maria looked down, a little embarrassed. There was an unspoken code backstage. If you were new, you had to pay your dues. You gave up your chair when asked, didn't speak unless you were spoken too. They had worked the hard yards, and without them, the industry wouldn't exist. You had to show respect._

_Jericho cocked his head. "You know who I am?"_

"_Of course I know who you are," she responded lifting her head. Maria was a little confused; why wouldn't she know? "Chris Jericho, debuted in World Championship Wrestling August, 1996. Later debuted in the WWE August 9 1999, in Chicago, Illinois, interrupting The Rock."_

_Intrigued, Chris stepped toward her. "Read that on Wikipedia, did you toots?" He sneered._

"_No," she responded calmly. "Chicago, Illinois. I was there. Remember the sign that read 'Jericho, man of 1004 holds!' in the front row? In regards to the time you were feuding with Dean Malenko in WCW, and he claimed to know 1000 holds?"_

_Recognition dawned on Jericho's face as he recalled his debut. He had come down the ramp and to his left had been a young girl holding a Jericho sign. He'd been so proud. A fan sign, and he had yet to even debut with the company. "I remember. But I don't believe it was you. Prove it. Name the third hold."_

"_The 'Moss Covered Three Handled Family Gredunza'," she retorted. His eyes widened, and he smirked. So one of these girls actually knew something about wrestling? Well, blow me down, he thought. If I got to choose a winner, I'd announce this girls name right now._

"_Well then," he drawled. This kid had spunk, he liked that. Scrutinizing her carefully he nodded. She was shorter than him, nice looking, good body. He wouldn't mind helping himself to a bit of that. I wonder if she has a boyfriend ... "Ladies and Gentleman," he said, nodding to the remainder of the locker room. "I think we have ourselves a winner ..."_

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"The WWE fans have spoken ..."

Maria shook herself out of her daydream as Coach paused dramatically. Why had Jericho looked at her like that? His eyes had been filled with ... lust? She shuddered at the thought. He was nice and all ... but not really her type ... The last thing she wanted to do was get involved with someone on the show ..

"Michelle .. you're going home."

Maria laughed gleefully as she realised she had survived another week. Waving goodnight to the crowd, the smile she wore grew even larger as she hugged Christy Hemme, the red head bouncing up and down eagerly beside her. "Christy! We made it!"

"I know!" Christy burst out. "Wouldn't it be great if we were the final two!"

Maria frowned slightly, her eyes smiling. "What do you mean 'if'? Of course we're going to be the final two!" Chattering away, the girls hugged again before heading off stage. Exiting the Gorilla with the other girls, Maria began to trek to their locker room. She hadn't made it far when she heard someone call out her name.

"Kanellis!" She turned slowly, not recognising the voice. Here eyes searched the room before falling upon the speaker. "Hey! Miss Know-it-All!" Chris Jericho was resting on a crate to the side of the hall. Maria groaned. What did he want now? It wasn't enough that he had tried to embarrass her in the locker room, and insult her on the Highlight Reel; now he wanted to annoy the hell out of her after the show too?

"What do you want Chris?" She asked, rather irritated.

"You made it," he pointed out coolly. "Well done."

"Why gee, thanks," she replied sarcastically. "I feel so much better now knowing I have the Chris Jericho seal of approval." Beside her, Christy gasped. What was Maria doing? You couldn't walk around insulting Chris Jericho!

"Oh but toots," he leered, drawing out the word. "I never said you had the seal of approval. Sure, you may know who I am and you might know a little something about the way things work around here, but you haven't got my approval. Just yet."

"Whatever, Jericho." She spat defiantly. "I don't need or necessarily want your approval anyway. I'm out of here. Stop bugging me." Grabbing Christy's hand, she spun and hurried down the hall. Christy meekly shot a look of apology in Jericho's direction before racing to keep her up with her friend.

"Maria!" Christy hissed furiously. "What are you doing! Do you know how important Chris is around here!"

Maria turned to her friend with murderous eyes. "Of course I know. But there is no way I'm going to let him push me around!"

"But he could say something to Vince!"

"Let him say it then .. I am not going to let anyone, not even Chris Jericho get in my way!"

"Oh now that's a shame," a voice tutted behind them. The girls spun around quickly to find one Chris Jericho standing behind them. "What if I decide I rather like being in your way?"

"Find someone else to annoy! Joy, Traci, anyone! Anyone but me!" Maria fumed. "Jericho, I don't need this! I am here to win this contest, to be the next WWE Diva! Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what, toots?" He asked, a smile spreading across his face. "I'm simply trying to be friendly. You took an interest in my career, I'm going to take an interest in yours."

"Ugh! You're constantly following me! Can you not take a hint!"

He shrugged in reply. "Guess not."

Maria rolled her eyes, and headed off in the opposite direction. She had known that the WWE would be a challenge, yet she hadn't figured upon a wrestler being her biggest problem. Why had Chris Jericho decided to become a thorn in her side?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"**So how do we do it exactly?"**

"**Well, you want her to notice you, right?" At John's nod, Rey continued. "Start with something simple ..."**

"**No way," Billy objected. "It has to be big, you have to get her attention, she has to be intrigued and want to know more."**

**John cocked his head in his friend's direction. "How do you know that'll work Kidman?"**

"**Girls love it when you pamper them. Start off big, your biggest problem right now is getting her interested." **

**John nodded slowly, figuring that Billy was right. **

"**Go on."**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Groaning, she stepped into the Diva's locker room. Closing her eyes, she slid down, back against the door. Just one more hour, she said to herself. Then you can go back to the hotel, sleep, get ready for next week, and forget about Chris Jericho. This horrible night will be over.

"Awww that's so cute ..." someone cooed in the background. Giggles and exclamations could be heard as Maria groaned again. What were they going on about now?

"Maria, Maria! Come and look at this!"

"What is it?" she asked tiredly.

Joy sighed loudly, her voice laced with awe. "Maria, just come and look! You're going to want to see this!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"**You don't want to pull out all the big guns in the first week though," Rey advised cautiously. "You'll end up doing all these extravagant things for this girl before you two even speak!"**

"**So what do I do then?" John asked in confusion.**

"**You really have no idea of how to nab a lady do you?" Billy deadpanned. "First, you've gotta make her feel appreciated."**

"**It's time to get RAW."**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Curious now, Maria stood and gasped. One entire wall of the locker room was covered in poster board, a massive picture of herself in the middle of the page, sitting on a beach. She recognized the shot from their first photo shoot, but she didn't recall ever seeing the collection of words written there .. the words surrounded the photo, scrawled in a cursive print. Someone had gone to great lengths to prepare this ..

_Maria Kanellis .. beautiful, angelic, divine, alluring, bewitching, stunning, gorgeous, exquisite, marvelous, magnificent, charming, enticing, fabulous..._

Maria gaped at the wall, failing to believe what she saw. "What is this?" she asked doubtfully. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" Traci walked over to her, a big bouquet of flowers in her hands.

"I don't think so Maria. Power down," she teased. Plopping the flowers in Maria's arms she began to search through the bunch for a card. "There's no card here ... who are they from?"

"Hot boyfriend you've been hiding from us Kanellis?" Carmella DeCesare asked demurely, staring at Maria from her position across the locker room. Maria stood open mouthed as she realised the amount of flowers littering the floor .. there was barely any room to move. Carmella sneered. Who would want Maria? She too, was rifling through a bouquet of flowers, yet she wasn't having any luck finding anything."No card here, either."

"Thought you didn't have a guy," Amy Weber responded coolly.

"I don't ..." Maria was lost for words. She couldn't take her eyes off the large poster adorning the wall, the flowers, the .. gigantic teddy bear sitting in front of her locker? "Guys .. I don't understand? What is all this stuff doing here?" A flash of white caught her eye, and she started to head towards the teddy in front of her locker, zoning out as Joy began to speak.

"Everything was in here when we got here, nothing had been tampered with, we just walked in and the poster was up, the flowers were here ... Maria, are you even listening?"

Maria reached under the teddy bears bow and pulled out a small square of water paper. "Hmm?"

"Never mind."Joy sighed as Maria unfolded the note. "What's that?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"**I don't know what to write!" A frustrated John Cena exclaimed. "How do I let her know how I feel without ..."**

"**Scaring her?" Torrie asked, arching an eyebrow. She had returned to her locker room to find the boys deep in thought. After much prodding and several threats of physical injury to her husband, they had told her of their plan. Needless to say, she wasn't happy. John was far too good for this Diva Search girl she rationalized. He could have his pick of any of the Divas, yet here he was going after a ring rat ... she wasn't going to rip their plan apart, but she certainly wasn't going to encourage it. **

**Billy glared at his wife. "Don't listen to her John. Write what you want to write, then we'll see if it's okay ..."**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Maria blinked as the words stared at her, almost leaping off the page.

_You don't know me .. but I adore the way you walk .. I admire how you stand tall .. I cherish the thought that when you win the Diva Search Competition we might actually get to meet .. I don't want to seem forward, but there is something about you – I need to figure out what it is .. if you'll only let me .. I revere in the fact that the Search has allowed me to notice you, but I'm saddened as it means I have to share you with the world, and that lessens my chance of being with you even more .. all I want is the chance to treasure you .._

_I hope you liked the flowers ... I didn't know how else to tell you how I felt ... _

_Maybe we'll meet some time?_

The girls crowded around, reading over her shoulder. "Okay," Joy nodded. "That is seriously sweet. But who is it from?"

"It has to be from somebody who works for the WWE, right?" Traci said slowly." No one else can get in here ..."

"And it had to be done while we were in the ring," Amy piped up.

Maria turned the paper over in her hands, searching for something, anything, to give her an indication of who had sent the note. "There's nothing on here ... no name, nothing .."

"They obviously don't want you knowing who they are," Joy reasoned, trying hard not to gush. Just once, she wished something like this would happen to her. Maria was soooo lucky she thought .. but who had done this?And why Maria?

"Oh. My. God." A voice spoke up from the doorway. The girls turned to Christy, having forgotten she was even in the room. "I know who they're from!" Instantaneously, the girls all swarmed the red head and pressed her for info. "Chris Jericho!" She blurted out.

"What!" The girls all swung their heads back to Maria, whose face was now pure white.

"No ... no way! It can't be Chris!"

"Who else would it be?" Christy pondered excitedly. "He won't leave you alone .. he's always staring at you! He likes you!"

Maria shuddered. It couldn't be .. anyone but him! Thinking about it though, it all added up .. who else would have gone to such great lengths? Even just to get on her nerves, it screamed Jericho. Desperately, she read over the note again, searching for something, anything, to prove that the self-proclaimed King of the World had nothing to do with this.

"Chris Jericho hmm?" Candice Michelle murmured. "I could do with an injection of Vitamin C .."

Rolling her eyes Tracie interrupted. "Back to the matter at hand .. it can't be Chris."

"Why not?" Amy asked. "Are you telling us you know who this is all from!"

"No, I never said that," she replied logically. "But what I am saying is, look at the note. The person who wrote this said that they've never met before ... can't be Chris, can't be any of the Superstars on the RAW roster."

"But ..." Maria said slowly, still skeptical.

"He could be saying that just to cover himself." Carmella suggested. "It could still be him..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

**Billy, Rey and John watched from the shadows as the other Diva Search contestants helped Maria carry all of her things to her car.**

"_You're so lucky," Christy said wistfully as they all said their goodbyes. Their voices drifted across the car park, and the guys struggled to hear them. "I wish Chris Jericho would buy me flowers ..."_

**The boys looked at each other and muttered in unison. "Jericho?"**

"_He does seem to like you Maria," Tracie agreed. "You should ask him out."_

_Maria wasn't really listening .. she was off in her own little world, trying to figure out who had done this. "What? Oh yeah," she replied absentmindedly, not realising what she was saying. "I will."_

**John's face fell. She thought everything was** **from Chris?** **His chances of ever getting anywhere with Maria were as good as gone in his opinion ... the trio watched as the girls drove away. It seemed like everything they had done had been a total waste of time. Meanwhile, inside, Torrie Wilson was doing some discovery of her own.**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

_She was exiting the bathroom when she heard a voice behind her. Inwardly, she winced, knowing that if she got caught backstage without the proper clearance she in in trouble. "Wilson ."_

_Raising her chin defiantly, she replied. "Jericho."_

"_To what do we owe this pleasure?" He smirked. "You're a Smackdown! Diva."_

"_Oh well thanks for the reminder Captain Obvious, I always wondered why I had to show up at the arena on a Friday night."_

"_So what are you doing here?" He asked curiously. "You wouldn't happen to have had anything to do with that little display for Maria, now_,_ would you?" Jericho was pissed; he'd intended on wooing Maria and now someone was trying to get in first._

"_No," she replied weakly, lying through her teeth. Her eyes betrayed her, and Jericho read her like a book._

"_Who are you helping? He demanded to know. "Tell me."_

"_Or what? You'll tell Vince that I'm here when I'm not supposed to be?"_

"_Oh no, nothing like that." He leaned toward her, whispering in her ear. Her blood ran cold at his words, and she froze. Noting her reaction he continued. "You going to tell me now?"_

_Torrie knew that she'd tell him .. she had to ... but at what price?_

---------------------------------------------------------------------

**Back in the parking lot the guys were sitting sullenly in their vehicle. "Billy, what's taking Torrie so long?" Rey asked.**

"**No idea."**

**John sat, staring blankly out the window. He had no idea how much he'd vested in this until now. He felt ... devastated. A door flew open and Torrie jumped in.**

"**Quick. Let's go."**

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Strolling the empty halls of the arena, Chris Jericho smirked to himself. So that punk Cena had his eye on Maria, did he. Well. Chris Jericho wasn't going to stand for that.


End file.
